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Boston Brown Bread dates back to Colonial times and is traditionally paired with Boston Baked Beans

Today is World Bread Day and as always I am happy to participate in this event hosted by Zorra.

I write from Massachusetts, so I chose an old-fashioned recipe for a classic New England bread, made since Colonial times. It contains equal quantities of rye, corn, and whole wheat flour, plus molasses and yeast, and it is steamed rather than baked. The result is a moist loaf, with a complex flavor and a mild sweetness. Great for dinner on a cool Autumn evening—along with a steaming bowl of baked beans or soup.

From the original recipe by Paul Richards

In: Baker’s Bread, 1918—USA

Ingredients

100 g rye flour

100 g whole wheat flour

100 g cornmeal

100 g Graham flour

5 g active dry yeast

8 g Kosher salt

135 g molasses (not blackstrap)

100 g boiling water

100 g warm water

milk as needed

Mix the rye flour and yeast with lukewarm water and set aside to ferment until light.

Scald the cornmeal with boiling water and set aside until cool. Add molasses and salt, then remaining flours and rye sponge. Add drops of milk if dough is too stiff.

Place mixture in a well greased glass or stainless steel steamed pudding mold, which mixture should fill by 2/3. Cover tightly. Place mold in large pot of boiling water (having first placed a rack on the bottom) and steam, covered for 2 hours, keeping the water always boiling and reaching 2/3 up the mold. Add additional boiling water as needed.

This is my entry for bbd #7 hosted this time by Cascabel of Chili und Ciabatta and initiated by Zorra. Cascabel proposeda great theme: flatbreads.

This rye flatbread—made with dark rye flour, potatoes, cornmeal, and a generous topping of onions—is amazingly good. The potatoes and rye provide a moist, chewy interior, speckled with potato bits. The roasted onion topping adds layers of flavor and sweetness. One of the best breads I have ever made.

From the original recipe by Florence Kreisler Greenbaum

In: “The International Jewish Cook Book: 1600 Recipes According To The Jewish Dietary Laws With The Rules For Kashering: The Favorite Recipes Of America, Austria, Germany, Russia, …”,1919—USA

Ingredients

2 cups (275 g) (Yukon Gold) potatoes, peeled and diced

2 tbsp (18 g) kosher salt

2 tbsp (15 g) yellow cornmeal (whole grain, stone ground)

1 cup (102 g) dark rye flour

3 cups (400 g) bread flour (King Arthur brand) or as needed

1/2 tbsp (6 g) sugar

1 tsp (4 g) active dry yeast dissolved in 2 tbsp (30 ml) warm water

2 tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter

Topping

1 onion, sliced paper-thin

1-2 tbsp (15-30 g) butter

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender. Strain and reserve cooking water. Mash the potatoes and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer. Measure 1-1/2 cups of the potato water (add extra water if necessary to have 1-1/2 cups) place in a saucepan and mix with the salt and cornmeal. Bring to a boil, then take off the heat and add the butter, stirring until it is melted. Pour the mixture on the mashed potatoes and mix briefly. Let cool.

Once the potato mixture is cold, add the flours and then the yeast dissolved in 2 tbsp (30 ml) warm water. Knead until the dough develops, about 7 minutes at low speed. The dough will be tacky, if too sticky and wet you may need to add a little more bread flour. Don’t add too much, the dough should be tacky because of the rye and potatoes.

Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover and let it rise—preferably overnight in a cool place. The refrigerator might be fine, but a room with a temperature of 50°F (10°C ), such as a basement, is best.

Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C), place a rack in the middle slot.

Once the dough is fermented, take it out of the bowl and delicately, without kneading it, stretch it and flatten it with the palms of your hands to form a thin rectangle. Place it in a buttered jellyroll pan (11 x 16 x 0.5-inch—28 x 40.5 x 1.27 cm), spread on the surface the onion slices and dot with butter here and there. (click on picture to enlarge).

Immediately bake the bread for about 20-25 minutes. (click on picture to enlarge)

Notes: it is important that the potatoes are mashed while still hot and mixed with the flours when cold. Warm potatoes make the dough gooey and tend to absorb lots of flour, ruining the final result.

Mashing the potatoes with a fork so that small pieces remain whole is better than using a potato ricer—the potato bits are tasty to find in the finished bread.

Place the prepared sourdough in the bowl of a stand mixer and add the water, then mix at the lowest speed with the flat paddle attachment. Add the bread flour mixed with the rye flour and mix at the lowest speed to make a shaggy dough. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes, then switch to the dough hook attachment and knead until the dough is well developed (it will clean the sides of the bowl and be slightly tacky). Add the salt and the caraway seeds and mix until well incorporated. I prefer to finish kneading the dough by hand, and after 2-3 more minutes of hand kneading it will be smooth, elastic, supple, and only barely tacky.

Shape the dough in a ball and let it ferment for about 1 hour, then shape as desired (either free form or place in a loaf pan) and let it finish rising for about 60 minutes on a peel or baking sheet sprinkled with semolina (or in the bread pan). Brush the top of the loaf with egg white mixed with water and score the surface of the loaf with a sharp blade.
Bake in a preheated oven (450°F-232°C) till golden brown (about 1 hour). Cool the bread on a rack.

This bread is at its best the day after it is baked, and keeps fresh for a few days.

** sourdough culture: can be made by mixing equal weights of (organic) whole grain rye flour and water, (200 g each) left to ferment in a covered glass container for 48 hours at room temperature. After 48 hours some signs of fermentation should be visible. Keep 100 g of the mixture (discard the rest) and add equal weights of rye flour and water (100 g each) . These refreshments should be made ideally every 12 hours during the the first week.